Trump Orders Pay for TSA Officers as Airport Lines Remain Long
Trump signed an order to resume TSA paychecks, but staffing shortages and high callout rates have left wait times up to four hours at some airports.
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Overview
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday directing Homeland Security to pay TSA officers and the department said they should begin seeing paychecks as early as Monday, March 30.
The action follows a partial government shutdown that left TSA officers unpaid since Feb. 14 and produced historic average security wait times of 4.5 hours, the acting TSA administrator said.
House Republicans passed their own eight-week DHS funding bill by 213 to 203 after rejecting a bipartisan Senate deal, and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that measure "is dead on arrival in the Senate".
DHS said callout rates reached 12.35%, affecting more than 3,560 employees, and roughly 500 officers have quit; the agency employs around 50,000 officers and training takes 4 to 6 weeks.
Although DHS said paychecks could start Monday, March 30, staffing gaps could keep delays for days to weeks and both chambers must pass matching legislation before final funding is approved.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources report this story neutrally: they stick to verified actions, timelines, and sourced quotes rather than evaluative commentary. They present Trump’s order, DHS statements, and congressional developments, offer a TSA wait-time tracker, and note staffing impacts and ICE support—providing balanced facts with direct attributions instead of editorializing.
FAQ
The shortages stem from a partial government shutdown starting February 14, 2026, leaving TSA officers unpaid since then, leading to high callout rates over 40% at some airports and 376-400 resignations.
Trump signed an executive order directing Homeland Security to resume paychecks for TSA officers, with payments potentially starting as early as Monday, March 30[story].
Callout rates reached 12.35% affecting over 3,560 employees, with about 500 quits from 50,000 total; wait times hit 4-4.5 hours at airports like Houston's Bush Intercontinental[1][2][story].
House Republicans passed an eight-week DHS funding bill 213-203, but Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer declared it 'dead on arrival' in the Senate[story].
ICE agents were deployed starting March 23 to airports like Atlanta, Newark, and JFK for crowd control and line management, but this has faced backlash from unions[3].
